metalfandomcom-20200223-history
Hail to the King
|5=Heavy metal |6=53:20 |7=Warner Bros. |8=Mike Elizondo }} Hail to the King is the sixth studio album by American band Avenged Sevenfold. It was released on August 23, 2013 in New Zealand and Australia, and was released on iTunes on August 27, 2013 and in North America on the same day. The album was produced by Mike Elizondo. This marks the first album with new drummer Arin Ilejay, who joined the band as a touring drummer in 2011 before becoming an official member in 2013. This is also the first Avenged Sevenfold album without any musical contributions from the band's late drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, however the bonus track, "St. James", was written in his memory. The album was a commercial and critical success, reaching number 1 on the Billboard 200. This marks Avenged Sevenfold's second album to top the Billboard chart as well as their first to reach number 1 in the UK, topping the UK Albums Chart. It also topped the Canadian, Brazilian, Finnish and Irish album charts. Also, the album spawned two number 1 singles on Billboard's Mainstream Rock, Hail to the King, and Shepherd of Fire. The former spent 11 weeks on the top of the chart. On July 16, 2014 the album was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies. Background On November 15, 2012, vocalist M. Shadows said that the band has been working on a new album since the recording of "Carry On" in August 2012. In December, the band said that it plans to begin recording material for their next album in January 2013, with release planned for later in the year. In January 2013 the band started recording their new album. The band started streaming snippets of their new album in May 2013 on their new radio app.http://www.avengedsevenfold.com/radio It was on the app that Arin Ilejay was confirmed as an official band member and replacement of deceased drummer and founding member The Rev. In an interview with Metal Hammer about the new album, M. Shadows said that the album would sound more blues rock-influenced and more like classic rock and classic metal in the vein of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The new album has a lot more of a Sabbath and Zeppelin feel to it, ” he states. “There’s definitely more Sabbath in what we’re writing, and we’re proud of ‘Carry On,’ but this album is going to be on a whole new level. We’re shooting for late January, early February enter the studio and to have the album out in the summer. I’m pretty sure that we’re looking to go overseas first, so you guys will be seeing it before everyone else... We’re going back to Sabbath stuff. We’re looking at blues chords they’re playing most of their stuff in. We’re listening to Zeppelin. We’re going backwards with what we want this record to feel like. I wanna write a classic metal record, a classic rock record in 2013. The band released four teasers on YouTube showing the band going through the recording process as well as providing snippets of songs off the album. On June 26, 2013, the band revealed the title, cover art and release date of album. In July, the band revealed the complete track list of the album.http://www.kerrang.com/blog/2013/07/avenged_sevenfold_unveil_track.html On August 8, 2013, "Shepherd of Fire" was revealed to be the theme song of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II Zombies map "Origins", included in its final downloadable content pack titled Apocalypse. Musical style Synyster Gates stated of the album: "I think our songwriting has improved by leaps and bounds. Sonically, this record is our biggest record by fucking far. When you turn this fucking thing on, it blasts your fucking head off." M. Shadows stated about the album's music: "On this record, we want a very bare bones, riff-oriented approach. Because it's really easy for us to say 'That melody would sound great here, throw this background vocal here, here's this harmony.' We had to restrain ourselves from doing that just to keep it more badass and just more straightforward rock." Zacky Vengeance stated: "We styled everything back and went to the core of heavy metal instead of trying to overcomplicate it. We wrote and wrote, and felt we really achieved what we were going for ... we're really proud of what we've come up with." Johnny Christ stated about the album's musical style in an interview with bravewords: "It's definitely us. It's just the next progression. It's probably the heaviest record that we've put out - in its own right. It's been a great response for the single (Hail to the King) so far, which I feel is a good way to see what the rest of the record is going to sound like. There will be some surprises in there for fans, but overall, I'm just excited." He also said the album is more groove metal-oriented. Release and promotion On July 15, 2013 the album was made available for pre-order and the title track, "Hail to the King", was released. The same day, the band revealed a Limited Edition of Hail to the King for pre-order available on their website, much as they did with their previous album, Nightmare. The limited edition set included: * Limited Edition “Treasure Box”: Antique gold colored embossed foil paper wrapped box featuring exclusive Hail To The King artwork * Deluxe Hail To The King album on CD: Housed in a digi-pak with a card including a download to an extra bonus track * Exclusive Canvas Print: 11.75″ x 11.75″ Canvas print of the Album Cover artwork, printed and rolled up to fit inside the treasure box * Photo Book: 11.5″ x 7.125″ 20-page + cover perfect-bound soft-cover book featuring a sampling of photos of the band throughout the years * Death Bat Challenge Coin: 2″ silver colored metal coin with a design stamped on front & back * Death Bat Skeleton Key: 4.5″ silver colored metal skeleton key * Digital Content: Instand download Hail To The King Single. Download of Hail To The King album on street date * Pre-Sale access to the upcoming Avenged Sevenfold US Tour On August 19, 2013, the album was made available for streaming on iTunes. Reception Critical response Hail to the King received positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream music critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable" reviews. In a summary of his review, Chris Epting of Loudwire called the album "a modern metal classic that reflects the past while very much embracing the present." Artistdirect's Rick Florino stated, "Hail to the King doesn't just raise the bar for the band, but it raises the bar for everyone else to follow and compete with." In a very positive review, Dom Lawson of The Guardian judged, "Stripped down to a core of thudding Sabbath-like grooves and brash, spiky vocal refrains, Avenged now sound every bit as vital and imperious as the bands they aspire to emulate." "Hail to the King represents a clean sweep, a divergence into classic metal and their best chance of hitting the heights they’ve always longed for," according to Q magazine. "The next giant crossover metal band has arrived," reviewer Tom Bryant concluded, giving the album a 4 stars out of 5 rating.Bryant, Tom. Q, November 2013. Record reviews. New releases. Avenged Sevenfold - hail to the King. P. 101 Not all critics were as enthusiastic. In a mixed review, Jason Lymangrover of AllMusic remarked, "Unfortunately, once they tried to take inspiration from other bands, they mimicked them so well that they lost their sense of identity in the process." He also accused "This Means War" of ripping off Metallica's song "Sad But True". In a more negative review, Bradley Zorgdrager of Exclaim! said "After it concludes, Hail to the King makes it challenging for listeners to recall any specific moment, which defeats the purpose of a pop (metal) album." The album has received some criticism and was accused of ripping off other artists. The album also has been compared to bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Pantera. In a blog post, Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn was also very critical of the album, denouncing it as a mere cover album and making several jokes about the similarities a selection of songs share with those by Metallica, Megadeth and Guns N' Roses.Machine Head’s Robb Flynn On ‘Hail To The King’: Who Knew That Rerecording Metallica Could Be Such A Hit?!” M. Shadows responded to the criticism saying that he "read it as a joke", but noted that "if it is a joke, it was kind of overboard". Chart performance Hail to the King debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on September 1, 2013. It also debuted at number two on the Official Finnish Albums Chart and at number five in Germany. The album sold 159,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Track listing All songs written by M.Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synyster Gates, and Johnny Christ. | collapsed = no | title11 = Hail to the King | note11 = music video | length11 = 5:13 | title12 = St. James | length12 = 5:01 |total_length = 63:34 }} Personnel ;Avenged Sevenfold * Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals * M. Shadows – vocals * Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitars, backing vocals * Johnny Christ – bass * Arin Ilejay – drums ;Session musicians * Storm Lee Gardner - Vocals on "Requiem" * Ran Jackson - Vocals on "Requiem" * Jessi Collins - Vocals on "Requiem" * Sharlotte Gibson - Vocals on "Requiem" * Rick D. Waserman - Voice-over on "Requiem" * Brent Arrowood - Sound fx on "Shepherd of Fire" * Brian Haner, Sr – Outro guitar solo on "Coming Home" * David Campbell – Orchestra arranger & conductor * John E. Acosta – cello on "Requiem", "Crimson Day" and "Acid Rain" * John Wittenberg, Josefina Vergara, Michelle Richards, Natalie Leggett, Sara Parkins, Songa Lee, Tereza Stanislav – violin on "Requiem", "Crimson Day" and "Acid Rain" * John Fumo, Rick Baptist – trumpet on "Shepherd of Fire", "Requiem" and "Planets" * Jeff Babko – piano on "Acid Rain" * Alan Kaplan – trombone on "Shepherd of Fire", "Requiem" and "Planets" * Douglas Tornquist – tuba on "Shepherd of Fire", "Requiem" and "Planets" ;Production * Mike Elizondo – production, keyboards on "Crimson Day", "Heretic" and "Coming Home" * Allen Wolfe – A&R * Joanna Terrasi – A&R * Brent Arrowood – assistant engineer * Chris Sporleder – assistant engineer * D.A. Frizell – illustrations, treatment * Adam Hawkins – engineer * Paul Suarez – pro-tools * Cam Rackman – paintings, portraits * Andy Wallace – mixer * Bob Ludwig - mastering engineer Release history References Category:2013 albums